John F. Harris (born 1962) is an American political aide and former

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

to the

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

Rod Blagojevich Rod Blagojevich ( , born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nicknames "Blago" or "B-Rod", is an American former politician, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009, when ...

. He resigned in December 2008 after being charged, along with Blagojevich, with

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to fraud, defraud another, and are Federal crime in the United States, federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the ...

Biography

Harris graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

in 1984. He attended

Loyola University Chicago School of Law Loyola University Chicago School of Law is the law school of Loyola University Chicago, in Illinois. Established in 1909, by the Society of Jesus, the Roman Catholic order of the Jesuits, the School of Law is located in downtown Chicago. Loyol ...

and graduated in 1987. From 1984 to 1992, Harris served as an intelligence officer and judge advocate general in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He resigned his commission in 1992 and subsequently joined the administration of Chicago mayor

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...

, where he served in many senior management positions and ultimately as budget director from 1996 to 2005. Among his many accomplishments, Harris negotiated and launched the multi-billion-dollar

O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop, ...

modernization program and led the city's successful transaction to sell the

Chicago Skyway Interstate 90 (I-90) in the US state of Illinois runs roughly northwest-to-southeast through the northern part of the state. From the Wisconsin state line at South Beloit, it heads south to Rockford before heading east-southeast to the ...

for $1.8 billion to the private capital joint venture team of Cintra/Macquarie. In 2005, Harris joined the administration of the Governor of Illinois as chief of staff,

Involvement with Rod Blagojevich

On December 9, 2008, Harris and his boss Governor

were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud as well as solicitation of bribery. Harris resigned days later. Harris would enter a guilty plea soon after his arrest and was granted a deal after he agreed to testify against Blagojevich. In a subsequent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit regarding the convictions of former Governor Blagojevich, the court reversed a conviction for the former governor based on the wire fraud count which had been the sole basis of Harris' guilty plea. The court noted that the practice of " logrolling" for political purposes, including the trading of favors like jobs, was not criminal activity. This has led legal and political commentators to speculate that Harris may have pleaded guilty to conduct which was not criminal at all. However, it is unclear if Harris is left with any legal remedy to clear himself. On March 28, 2012, Harris was sentenced by judge

James B. Zagel James Block Zagel (born March 4, 1941) is an inactive Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and a novelist. Early life and education Born in Chicago, Illinois, to Jewish ...

. In contrast to the 14-year sentence Judge Zagel previously handed down to former Governor Blagojevich, Harris was sentenced to a period of 10 days' incarceration, two years' supervised release and a $1,000 fine. In imposing the unusually lenient sentence, Judge Zagel noted that the former Governor had worn down his staff and demonstrated signs of "mental instability." Judge Zagel observed that other than leaving the administration earlier if he were in Harris's shoes, he might have acted the same way. The judge also acknowledged an unusual number of character reference letters in support of Harris that had been received from prominent city and state political and business figures.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, John F. 1962 births Living people Northwestern University alumni Loyola University Chicago School of Law alumni Illinois politicians convicted of crimes Illinois Democrats